Will Anyone Ever Run A 3 Minute Mile?

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"The purpose of this research is not to take elite athletes to a new level," says physiologist Lee Sweeney, leader of the Pennsylvania team, "but to help them come back from injury faster." Nonetheless, similar techniques could theoretically be used for mitochondrial and cardiac redesign.

Runners are not the only athletes for whom souped-up genetics could mean souped-up performance. If baseball players could increase their bat speed, home runs that barely clear the fence could fly hundreds of feet farther. Boost leg strength in a football kicker, and a 60-yd. field goal could sail for 80 or 90 yds.

But would this super performance be good for the suddenly superbody? Hang too much muscle on the skeletal system or place too much strain on the cardiopulmonary system, and something's bound to give. Racehorses--which are bred and trained for speeds they were not designed to run--suffer all manner of physical ills, from fractured legs to bleeding lungs, as a result of overuse. "You don't have these problems in antelopes and cheetahs, but in horses, we've apparently pushed to the limit," says Weyand. "If a human ran a 2-min. mile, you might see the same thing."

Of course, even if genetically manipulated athletes did survive their training and thrive in their sport, it's hard to say what they'd have won. A well-trained runner or ballplayer is one thing; a well-manufactured one is something else--less a product of skill and will than tricky genetics and smart pharmacology. "Maybe one day athletes will call up a prescription for bigger muscles or whatever," says Holman. "But will it still be called a sport?" You don't have to be an athletic purist to know the answer.